Auctions for sale of products have proven to be very popular and the success of the systems involve two major features. Typically with auction systems, there is the possibility to obtain the product at a very competitive price. In addition, there is the excitement and skill of the buyer who participates in the auction process and makes fast decisions whether to continue to participate or to recognize the price has become too high. The auction process, traditionally, has been a relatively fast process which changes quickly. The standard auction process involves users bidding for a particular product, and the product is sold to the highest bidder.
The dynamic nature of the auction process, in its traditional form, is attractive to a certain number of participants, but it is also an obstacle to a further group of participants who do not wish to rush their decision process. For this reason, there are other variations of the auction process where the time period for the auction is much longer and the feedback of information tends to be slower. Some auction processes do not provide any real time feedback, such as a silent auction process, where users merely submit their bid, which is confidential.
A further variation of the auction process is a reverse auction where the price of the product decreases in a set manner during the time period of the auction and each participant is provided with the current price, the quantity on hand and the time remaining in the auction. This type of auction, typically, takes place over a very short period of time and there is a flurry of activity in the last portion of the auction process. The actual auction terminates when there is no more product to be sold or the time period expires.
The auction process for the sale of products has also been used on the internet with great success. In this case, the various users send messages to the auction site with details of their bid and identity. Details of the bid are posted on the auction site computer and are available to other participants. The auction process typically has a time period of several days or weeks, and the product is allocated to the highest bidders.
However, one of the disadvantages of this system is the remittance of payment between the seller and awarded purchaser. For instance, since the seller is typically a private individual, the only way for the seller to securely obtain the finds for the sale is through a money order sent from an awarded buyer. This is because it is not advisable for a seller to rely on personal checks, and the seller typically does not have the resources available to process credit card transactions and other types of automatic debit transactions. Moreover, it is typically inconvenient for the awarded buyer to purchase a money order, since this usually involves going to a bank, post office or financial store to do so, which mitigates the convenience of the internet transaction.